Toulon boss threatens to sue ARU on Cooper

[valzc]

Now we just need to wait for KB to pull one of his stunts. He's about due for one.

[sevenmile]

Alison I have been watching your comments very closely over my time on TWF , firstly Kurtly Beale and now Quade Cooper u belittle. Cooper was pitched in to a position he is not common with , and the next thing the trolls are jumping on board .
The best thing that happened to Australia rugby last year was the sacking of Mckenzie . And we only have Beale to thank for that . We all know the grief this young man was put thru after Argentina test last year , and comments on social media that they will not support the wallabies if he is included .

[palitu]

Alison I have been watching your comments very closely over my time on TWF , firstly Kurtly Beale and now Quade Cooper u belittle. Cooper was pitched in to a position he is not common with , and the next thing the trolls are jumping on board .
The best thing that happened to Australia rugby last year was the sacking of Mckenzie . And we only have Beale to thank for that . We all know the grief this young man was put thru after Argentina test last year , and comments on social media that they will not support the wallabies if he is included .

and so it begins again.

that being said, Quade was average.

[MI5_Dog]

Alison I have been watching your comments very closely over my time on TWF , firstly Kurtly Beale and now Quade Cooper u belittle. Cooper was pitched in to a position he is not common with , and the next thing the trolls are jumping on board .
The best thing that happened to Australia rugby last year was the sacking of Mckenzie . And we only have Beale to thank for that . We all know the grief this young man was put thru after Argentina test last year , and comments on social media that they will not support the wallabies if he is included .

I thought we had a 'do not feed the troll' icon somewhere?

[The InnFORCEr]

Quade will be as broke as Greece if he fails to attend medical, says Boudjellal

Iain Payten
The Daily Telegraph
July 28, 2015 12:13PM


​QUADE Cooper has been summoned by Toulon to undergo a medical and if he doesn’t turn up the Wallaby star could end up as broke as Greece, according to Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal​.

The contract saga between Cooper, Toulon and the Australian Rugby Union shows no signs of a peaceful resolution, with Boudjellal firing off more shots at Cooper and the “morons” of the ARU in an interview with a French newspaper.

Cooper signed a two-year contract with Toulon earlier this year but is poised to backflip and re-sign for four years with the ARU; a development that enraged Boudjellal and saw him threaten to sue the ARU last week.

The ARU responded by saying it was a matter for Cooper and Toulon to resolve.

While there was speculation Cooper could pay a $230,000 release fee to Toulon to get out of his deal, Boudjellal told Midi Olympique that was an escape fee for a preliminary “promise contract” only — not the full contract.

Under French contract law, a promise contract is signed by two parties who commit to later sign a full contract under already agreed conditions.

“The moron of the Australian federation who does not know his file needs to know that the promise of employment is no longer the question,” Boudjellal told the French paper.

“€150 000 ($A228,000) was to pay for the release of promise of contract, but Cooper has signed his contract, I can produce it if necessary. The contract promise is now obsolete. At the present time, if Cooper withdraws, he will have to pay the amount of the contract! It could make him alone, the second most indebted State after Greece (laughs)!”

Boudjellal said if Cooper doesn’t honour his contract he will “have more need of money than words”. Boudjellal said last week he could seek “millions” in compensation and it is realistic Cooper signed a contract with Toulon worth up to $A2 million.

“He signed a promise of hiring in the vicinity of the end of April, a month and a half after he signed the contract: so he had time to think before committing,” Boudjellal said.

The paper said Cooper had been summoned by Toulon to undertake his medical testing and “depending on the response from the player, Mourad Boudjellal could sue the player and the Australian Federation.”

The ARU said they had been negotiating with Cooper before his visit to Toulon in April, and were not been shown a contract with the club by Cooper’s management thereafter. They have maintained they will not pay any compensation fee for Cooper.

“As to their involvement in the case, of course the Australian federation is concerned. For my part, before contacting a player to offer him a contract, I expect that he is free at the end of the season. In this case, the Australian federation has not done that since Cooper has signed a two-year contract with us!” Boudjellal said.

The newspaper reported Cooper’s agent Khoder Nasser had been in recent talks with Boudjellal.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika tried the flattery angle last week when asked about the stoush between Boudjellal, Cooper and the ARU.

“Mourad has brought a lot to the game over there, he has created a really great atmosphere around the game,” Cheika told the Sunday Telegraph.

“And I’m not sure what he said but he just wants to get his man obviously, there is nothing wrong with that, he is fighting for his team.

“So hopefully it won’t come to that (legal action).

“It’s important to know that he’s done great things for the game in Europe.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that, I’m really happy if Quade is considering staying, I’m really pleased about that because he has been excellent in camp.”

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1227460088455

[GIGS20]

It think the devil will be in the details here.

I personally don't think Mourad Boudgellal can be trusted as far as he can be spit, but i also know Quade is not a particularly intelligent individual and tends to make decisions with his arse (there are several twitter outbursts and media comments which attest to this) so I wouldn't be surprised to see anything occur as a result of this stoush. He might have signed a contract, Toulon might be talking crap, the ARU might be completely innocent or they might be in it up to their armpits.

It's like days of our lives isn't it?

[Petalz]

Now we just need to wait for KB to pull one of his stunts. He's about due for one.

What exactly did Beale do to you in a past life? do you need to speak to someone to resolve these issues?

“€150 000 ($A228,000) was to pay for the release of promise of contract, but Cooper has signed his contract, I can produce it if necessary. The contract promise is now obsolete. At the present time, if Cooper withdraws, he will have to pay the amount of the contract! It could make him alone, the second most indebted State after Greece (laughs)!”

Boudjellal cant really talk when he signed SBW when he was 12 months into a 2/3 year deal anyway. His ethical Compass is so misguided I would be surprised if he doesn't sign his cheques in wrong spot and then try to say they're invalid when someone cashes them.

[jargan83]

Boudjellal cant really talk when he signed SBW when he was 12 months into a 2/3 year deal anyway. His ethical Compass is so misguided I would be surprised if he doesn't sign his cheques in wrong spot and then try to say they're invalid when someone cashes them.

5 year deal.

I challenge the surrender monkey to produce the contract.

[F Man]

OK this is how F Man sees things playing out…
- Toulon sues ARU.
- ARU loses case, forced to pay millions.
- ARU goes bankrupt.
- Best Australian players go to Europe, Japan and the NRL.
- Left without Australia SANZAR loses its television money.
- Professional rugby in Australia collapses, rugby league becomes sole professional rugby code domestically.
- South Africa aligns itself with Europe and the Heineken Cup.
- Without SANZAR money and competition professional rugby in New Zealand collapses, best players go to Europe, Japan and the NRL, rugby league becomes sole professional rugby code domestically.

[shasta]

“The moron of the Australian federation who does not know his file needs to know that the promise of employment is no longer the question,” Boudjellal told the French paper.

Gotta like a busnessman who conducts himself with such dignity. Rex Messup School of Business Etiquette?

[Sheikh]

OK this is how F Man sees things playing out…
- Toulon sues ARU.
- ARU loses case, forced to pay millions.
- ARU goes bankrupt.
- Best Australian players go to Europe, Japan and the NRL.
- Left without Australia SANZAR loses its television money.
- Professional rugby in Australia collapses, rugby league becomes sole professional rugby code domestically.
- South Africa aligns itself with Europe and the Heineken Cup.
- Without SANZAR money and competition professional rugby in New Zealand collapses, best players go to Europe, Japan and the NRL, rugby league becomes sole professional rugby code domestically.

I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that Toulon can't sue the ARU, as there is no contract with them.
They can sue Cooper for breach of contract, and the ARU is then left with a decision as to whether to pay Cooper's fine, and his salary for the next x years for a Sevens player, or to tell Cooper to do one.
Cheika's statement reads, to me, like the ARU are positioning themselves as outside the whole thing, and that Cooper isn't irreplaceable.

[Alison]

Cooper could sue his manager for allowing him to get into this fine mess in the first place?

[DazloT]

One wonders where the player manager extraordinaire Mr Nasser is in all of this. Did he convince his client to sign the contract early "just in case", with the belief that the ARU will come to the party if they want him to stay or Toulon wouldn't actually use the get out clause, and he is now back pedaling like all buggery to get out of the jam.
Wonder if he will contribute to paying out the contract!

[jono]

Cooper could sue his manager for allowing him to get into this fine mess in the first place?

yeah... Gonna go ahead and say no on that one; Unless Nasser held a gun to qc's head until he signed it.
Or signed it for him without quade knowing

[jono]

One wonders where the player manager extraordinaire Mr Nasser is in all of this. Did he convince his client to sign the contract early "just in case", with the belief that the ARU will come to the party if they want him to stay or Toulon wouldn't actually use the get out clause, and he is now back pedaling like all buggery to get out of the jam.
Wonder if he will contribute to paying out the contract!

Why? He didn't sign anything.
Quade could not pay his commission. But ultimately it's not nasser's signature on the paperwork - if there is any signed docs